Elaine L. Orr is the Amazon bestselling author of the Jolie Gentil cozy mystery series. "Behind the Walls" was a finalist for the 2014 Chanticleer Mystery and Mayhem Awards. Annie Acorn Publishing will issue the first book in Elaine's River's Edge cozy mystery series in late fall 2015. Elaine also writes plays and novellas, including the one-act, "Common Ground", published in 2015. Her novella, "Biding Time, was one of five finalists in the National Press Club's first fiction contest, in 1993. Elaine conducts presentations on electronic publishing and other writing-related topics. Nonfiction includes "Words to Write By: Getting Your Thoughts on Paper." A member of Sisters in Crime, Elaine grew up in Maryland and moved to the Midwest in 1994.

Her fiction and nonfiction are at all online retailers in all formats -- ebooks, paperbacks, large print, and (on Amazon, itunes, and Audible.com) audio in digital form. Support your local bookstore!

Reviews

Review by:
Quin With a Purpose
on Oct. 26, 2011 :
Just like poverty, one reads this and finds joy, simple family values, and a sense of longing for more. I quite enjoyed this little story as did I enjoy the simple need for belonging, belongings, memories, and personal space.

A great little quip for reminding people of how our things divide, come and go, and identify us, or hold us hostage.(review of free book)

Review by:
Bernard Fancher
on Oct. 02, 2011 :
A slightly enigmatic little work, both pleasant and troubling. There are some beautiful sentences here, subtly symbolic. "It was windy now, and the breeze wandered behind her head and down the back of her neck." Soon the imagery expands to include a shell "rolled in a paper towel. She unwrapped it gently, looking at how the folds of the shell turned around on each other." A gift from her missing mother's boyfriend, it has "sleek lines and soft colors" and maybe "if she held it to her ears, she could hear the ocean." Finally, a pink barette (matching neither her shirts or single dress) subtly recalls not only the shell but the wind in her hair and the unheard sound of the ocean. Such language, rife with meaning and memory, defies easy explication. But it's entirely in keeping with the mood of this story and very gratifying to read.(review of free book)